The Lewan Effect

I had assumed Lewan's departure was so much of a foregone conclusion that I didn't even bother to hang around the computer last night when he announced and only found out once I flipped on the Nebraska game. Derpity-doo.

In any case, I don't have to tell you how huge his return is for Michigan next year. Without him, Michigan was replacing four starters on the OL with at least two freshmen. With him, they return two solid-to-All-American tackles and only have to find three new guys.

In addition, Lewan's return gives Michigan flexibility. Michael Schofield was a quality player at guard last year and could return there if necessary. That allows Michigan to let Ben Braden and Erik Magnuson compete for starting jobs. Team 134 now has to find three starters out of this group:

Even if you dismiss Burzynski as a walk-on—not necessarily wise—that is eight candidates for the three spots, seven of whom will compete in spring. The eighth, Kugler, is the son of Sean Kugler, until recently the Steelers' OL coach and now the head man at UTEP. If ever there is a guy who will be ready to play center as a freshman it'll be him.

Remove Lewan and you not only force Braden* in to the starting lineup ready or not, you likely remove Magnuson from the conversation. Moving guys around is a lot less possible when you've got one guy standing between you and walk-ons at tackle. Then you're trying to get someone out of Bosch/Bars/Burzynski/Bryant. That's doable, but Lewan is not only an All-American coming back but two extra bullets for the holes Michigan has to fill. High five.

The starting line above is four touted recruits and four kids who are entering at least their third year in the program. Behind them they'll have options in case they aren't working out. It's kind of a big deal.

Synergy! There's always a chance that none of our young guys will be ready, of course... but suddenly I think the chances that the line is better next year than this year (virtually a requirement for Al's offense to work enough to get us to Pasadena either week there's something going on) has increased noticeably.

Given there are so many new players to give a chance to, I actually think the ability to move Schofield around is bigger than what Lewan physically brings to the left side. The coaches now have the luxury of finding the best combination of five players, rather than locking guys into positions and hoping they work.

About the only player disadvantaged in this entire situation is Schofield, who doesn't get a year to show pro scouts that he can play LT, a position which, as I understand it, he's much better suited for as a relatively nimble guy who isn't the mauler that teams look for at RT.

I really like the potential of this line and the overall size of projected starters (size according to mgoblue roster). I assume this roster is from the start of the year, so hopefully everyone is 5 pounds or so heavier and can add some strength and bulk this offseason

LT - Lewan, 6-8, 309

LG - Kalis, 6-5, 294 (sounds light, ya?)

C - Miller, 6-4, 288 (eat, my friend)

RG - Bryant, 6-4, 318

RT - Schofield, 6-7, 300

I don't know the chances of moving Schofield back to a guard spot, but Big Ben Braden clocks in at 6-6, 308, so he'd be a big ol' RT. Jack Miller still worries me, a little bit.

I'm always confused about the differences between height/weight reported on recruiting websites and what players actually get listed as on mgoblue.com.

I get that exaggeration is a natural part of recruiting metrics, hence the X fakes out of 5 for 40 times in Hello: posts, but I am confused how guys like Kalis that certainly looked over 300 will show up at 294 while James Ross is listed at 205 by most recruiting sites shows up at 225. Beats me, other than 17, 18 and 19-year olds' bodies change quite a bit getting into a college program.

Regarding your Kalis and Ross examples - it's not normal for a guy like James Ross who is underweight to put it on quickly when he really tries to, so him putting on 20 pounds isn't a huge shock. On the other hand, lots of high school guys who are over 300 first need to peel off the bad before the put on the good. Even if Kalis was over 300 (and he may not have been) he may have just lost weight when he got to campus doing his first college S & C training, some of which was outside in July.

Now that Kalis is in shape, I would expect him to pack on the muscle and be over 300 this fall.

I agree Kalis will probably clock in just over 300 lbs by the start of the season. There is a good chance that he lost a lot of fat and still ended up gaining muscle mass. I don't say this in a bad way at all. I just think there is more opportunity to loss fat and gain muscle as a huge lineman in college, than it is to maintain tip top shape in a high school setting.

Millers size should be fine. His 288 was reported at the beginning of the 2012 season, and most of the top NFL Centers are 305 and under. Chris Myers at Houston went to the Pro Bowl two years running at only 290 lbs. Kalis weight should be fine too, if it's 294-ish pounds of the right kind of weight.

Thanks for this answer...this was the direction I was going with my question a few posts above, but wanted to hear it from someone else smarter than me on the topic. I have to imagine that getting a center too big will approach a point of negative returns.

“If you play at the University of Michigan, whether it’s basketball, hockey, football, there’s a tradition here and there’s something that you want to be a part of,” Lewan said. “And if I do what I need to do, I’ll be able to play in the NFL for however long, but you only get one more year of college.”

Brian, I just got done listening to to you talking to Sam and Ira about this on WTKA. Nex time you go one remind them to turn your mic up. I'm at work and I have to turn my speaker up to hear you talk but then when Sam talks it's like 'Whoaa!' Then I have to crank it down. Then up, then down, over and over again.

BTW I agree that Sam's a little too optimistic on Kugler for '13. I think he may very well take over at center while Miller is still around but I don't think it will be next year.

There's no interior run game if your C gets blown off the ball every snap, so Miller is the key. Kugler will be good in year or two, but would be a liability as a true frosh no matter who his dad is.

I'd also add that the fact that the coaches are looking for another guard when they have some highly touted guys coming in at that position, and two young guys with 3 years of eligibility primed to start infront of them tells me at least one of Bryant or Kalis is not expected to pan out. I don't know which, but if Schofield ends up at guard, whichever of Bryant or Kalis is not on the field in the other guard spot is never going to.

Insider hype has been positive on Rawls, but that hasn't panned out. I hope you're right, that Kalis is legit, but I can't shake the feeling that he wasn't redshirted because they wanted to save his eligibility. He obviously wasn't ready to beat out Barnum or Omaheh. Since they were not all that great, that says something. If the hype hadn't been that he was a college ready freshman, I wouldn't be concerned, but it was, and he wasn't.

I think it had more to do with Barnum not being able to snap, and therefore, the coaches were more comfortable with 3 and 4 year starters at guard. Had Barnum remained at center, it might have been a different story.

Miller was a redshirt freshman who still had some weight to put on, some more technique to work on and probably some more of the playbook to master. It's not that he wasn't good, it's that he wasn't ready. When a RS frosh gets beat out by a 5th year senior (who has 20 pounds on him), that doesn't necessarily say something bad about the frosh, even if the senior isn't a star.

If there is an impact on Derrick Green's recruitment, I'd think it would have a lot more to do with the things it says about a program that a top half of the first round draft pick would come back out of loyalty to his school, his coaches, and his teamates. Find me a guy like Taylor who'd make the same choice for a school like Auburn, Tennessee or Miami (YTM).

when Michigan would basically run out of an Ace formation, Mike Hart 7 yards deep with a predictable 41 delayed give to Hart. The line would just zone-grader block left until a hole open up and boom. 4 yards guaranteed.

Lining up against the Kugler+Kalis+Lewan side of the line is going to become very hazardous to your health.

I saw the post before. It was critical of Brian, but in a professional way, not a personal one. I am surprised that mods would delete it.

Although I didn't agree with the now-deleted comment, which questioned whether Brian had reliable insider sources, it would be better to have a discussion on the topic and have the comment disproved than to censor it. Blogs are simply no fun if those who visit are prohibited from sharing a unique viewpoint.

Perhaps the mods or the original commenter could explain what they think happened, and why?

“No other offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed.”